Islj 2009 3-4 - TMC Asser Instituut

6.3.3 The Gaming Department
It supervises the organisation and management of all games, oversees
the management of gaming concessions, ensures that tax revenues are
correct and regular and formulates directives and regulations. It also
coordinates the procedures involved in granting new concessions by
establishing guidelines in relation to their assignment and managing
the relative public tenders.
6.3.4. The Department for the Organisation and Management of
Resources
This office manages the human, capital, logistical and IT resources
which are necessary to enable AAMS to carry out the role and tasks
assigned to it. It is responsible for developing its IT system and its on
line network. It defines the guidelines and procedures for managing
its real estate, staff training, labour relations and collective bargaining
negotiations.
7. Numbers-based games
7.1. Lotto and SuperEnalotto.
Lotto is a popular, traditional and customary Italian game. It has the
potential of developing and meeting the requirements of the changing
habits and psychological motivations of Lotto players, despite its
lengthy history. A number of innovations were recently introduced, to
it, including automated extraction, focussed extraction, the national
draw (“ruota”) and the third weekly extraction, while another brandnew
feature, Instant Lotto, was added in 2006.
SuperEnalotto is another game invented in 1997. It involves foretelling
the first numbers extracted in the draws of Bari, Florence,
Milan, Naples, Palermo and Rome. The first number extracted in the
draw of Venice serves as the “joker” number.
Fabulous winnings have firmly entrenched SuperEnalotto in Italy’s
collective imagination, such as the amazing record of 72 million euros
set in 2005. Since 2006, the fans of SuperEnalotto have been using
presented with a brand-new logo, a new playing sheet and a new
optional, related game: SuperStar.
SuperStar is a new optional, tie-in game coupled with Super -
Enalotto. A random number between one and ninety is generated by
the terminal at the moment the wager is confirmed, the number
becomes the winner number if it matches the first number drawn on
the national Lotto draw.
7.2. Lottery
National lotteries are one of the oldest and most popular forms of traditional
gaming in the world. They are associated with one or more
historical, artistic or cultural events, or other types of local initiatives,
and combine the diversion of gaming activity with the promotion of
our country’s artistic and cultural resources. The most important lottery
in Italy is the “Lotteria Italia”, which has been held since the
1960´s and given extensive media coverage. The draw for the winners
is usually held on January 6 of each year.
In recent years, in line with changing lifestyles increasingly characterised
by speed and immediacy, there has been a growing desire for
immediate victory, regardless of the amount at stake.. This led to the
creation of instant lotteries and drawings, known in Italy in the
famously known name of “Gratta e vinci” (“Scratch and Win”), a title
that summarises the mechanics of the game.
In the year 2003, they launched a third type of lottery. Tied in with
the traditional lotteries, this new form of gaming utilises telephone
communications.
7.3. Bingo
It invlves the extraction of ninety numbers, and was introduced in
Italy in 2001. It resembles the traditional “tombola” game played by
Italian families from time immemorial. Bingo is played in specially
equipped Bingo Halls that offer hospitality and entertainment services
to promote friendly encounters and socialisation, thus making it a
pleasant pastime.
One unique feature of Bingo from the other games relates to the
individual behaviour of the participants and the distance, in terms of
both space and time, between the moment when the game is played
and the moment of the winnings. Since 2005, it has been possible to
play Bingo through the creation of a single “virtual bingo hall” on a
national level making for extractions that produce sizeable prizes even
in the smallest “real” halls.
8. Games based on sports and horse racing.
This activity pools betting games based on forecasting sports results
are time-honoured favourites in Italian popular culture, currently distributed
through a vast and widespread network of betting points
connected with the Totalisator, which registers all the wagers in real
time and with the utmost security.
One such game goes by the name Totocalcio, which involves forecasting
the outcomes of soccer matches (currently 124). From the
moment it was introduced, in 1946, the game has been a fixture for all
Italians, even those with less enthusiasm for soccer and less gaming
ability, thus giving it a privileged place in the country’s collective
imagination. Innovative elements have subsequently been introduced:
the Totogol game (in which the number of goals scored in each of the
games listed on the betting slip must be forecasted), plus a new game,
“9”, coupled with Totocalcio.
The Totip pools game (based on horse races) is one of the oldest
and most traditional games, still constituting a very well known
brand. The Tris bet (in which the first three finishers of a race must
be forecast) is a betting outlet game, played with a betting slip and
aimed primarily at public affiliates, even though its widespread use
and simplicity make it suitable for all players. In 2006, further new
competitions were added under the name of “Ippica Nazionale”
(“National Horse Racing”).
In the past, bets were viewed as illegal gambling, though, as the
government placed greater attention to its practice. This paved way
for laws governing these activities, starting with betting on horses.
Since 2002, all bets have been placed under the control of the AAMS.
Bets are placed on competitions involving Olympic sports (basketball,
soccer, bicycle racing, downhill and cross-country skiing, tennis,
sailing and volleyball), as well as motor sports (car and motorcycle
racing) and horse races organised as part of the official programs of
Italian and foreign racetracks.
There are traditionally two types of betting: totaliser-based and
fixed rate. In the case of totaliser betting, “pots” of winnings are divided
among those who have correctly forecast all the events being bet
on. With fixed-rate bets, on the other hand, the bettor is playing
against the “bank”, managed by concession holders, with the outcome
depending on the results of individual events or of a sequence of
linked events. Winners are paid an amount equal to the wager, multiplied
by the fixed rate at the moment the bet was made.
Also enhancing these offers are the new betting methods which
have recently been introduced in the scene: “live” bets on sports
events, meaning that wagers can be laid “during” the competition,
until just before its conclusion (for example, up until the last lap in a
motor racing event).
9. Gaming machines
They originated in Italy from the 1900’s onwards, .In 2002; the Italian
Parliament defined the “legal” types of machines and methods of play,
also regulating the possibility of winning small sums of money.
Gaming machines that do not provide winnings in money can be
divided into two different categories, respectively characterised by:
The ability to receive an object as a prize (crane games, draws that
require skill etc...);
Pure entertainment (video games and mechanical and electromechanical
devices, such as billiards, table football, pinball etc...).
The machines, known as “Newslot” are the only AWP machines au -
thorised by the AAMS and are characterized for skill or entertainment
elements combined with chance. The ongoing development of AWP
machines is taking advantage of improvements in information and
communications technologies in order to heighten the attraction of
A RT I C L E S
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